


please give me mercy (because i keep hurtin)

by alecchii



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, a fanfic where toni had enough of penelope's mean comments toward cheryl, choni secret santa, wedding!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 18:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alecchii/pseuds/alecchii
Summary: Even if it is indeed Cheryl's happiest day of her life, Penelope Blossom won't let her have it.





	please give me mercy (because i keep hurtin)

**Author's Note:**

> this is a gift for haadestown on tumblr. enjoy your choni secret santa present !! (i did my best hfdfjsfg)

"Aren't you nervous?"

"Why would I be?"

There were many things Toni could be nervous about, nevertheless that night, there was only one thing that occupied the thoughts of both of them. It was the eve of their wedding, a day they didn't think would ever come. Not because they didn't love each other enough, or because they had doubts about it; but because they simply didn't believe someone could make it alive out of Riverdale, especially after all the murders and crimes committed in the town, less to build a whole new different life outside that place.

Although they came back, no matter how much Cheryl had doubts about it. Nothing tied her there, where she only attached bad memories, except for those she shared with Toni. And may some be bitter, since her girlfriend was the victim of many of the seizures that took control of the inhabitants of Riverdale; still Cheryl wouldn't change them for anything in the world.

Because in spite of everything, they always ended up together, fighting to see who'd end up being the little spoon, and who'd be the big spoon. Although in this case, just on that December night, the redhead had allowed herself to be tucked up by the arms of others.

Her body trembled and Toni held her tighter; but that couldn't calm the accelerated beats striking against her chest."Are you serious, TT? Tomorrow is our big day."

"Everyday I spent with you IS a big day for me."

"And I thought I was the cheesy one." In response, the shorter one covered her fiancee's face with one of the pillows on the bed, berating her with laughter. Cheryl managed to get out from under the cushions, only to be received by a pair of plump lips. She smiled, clumsily obstructing the chaste kiss they shared. "I can't comprehend how you do it to be so at ease about this, ma cherie. Everytime I think about it, I just can't breathe."

"Please breathe, I don't want to become a widow before I'm even married." Another smile decorated the other girl's lips, those of a pale pink tone that Cheryl could get used to seeing each morning after waking up. "I meant it, though. Do you remember our road trip to California? Before Riverdale drama got us again into such a whole mess?"

"Of course I do."

"Every day back then, I felt at home." Cheryl looked up, staring at Toni, whose face had been subtly saddened. "It was the first time I felt that way, I've never had a place to call home before, but now that I'm with you, I feel like it doesn't matter where I am as long as we're together." The penetrating raven of the shortest finally went in search of the opposite eyes, seeking in them the comfort that was never denied. "That's why I'm not nervous. I've never been so sure of anything in my life before, as I am now about spending my days right by your side."

"T-Toni..."

"What? Don't you want me to?" She teased.

And even if Cheryl knew her fiance didn't really think she could have such doubts, she felt the need of denying it. "There's nothing else in this rotten world I want the most. But everytime we come back, I know something really bad is going to happen."  
"We can cancell, get in my bike and drive to Las Vegas."

Cheryl sighed, holding an amused smile. "As endearing as it sounds, we can't. All our friends will be there, and Veronica has worked hard to prepare our wedding. Even Josie has reunited the Pussycats again to play at the banquet. It's not fair to ditch now on them."

"And... don't forget my family." 

"Yeah, them too." Now, it was a giggle what decorated her lips. 

However, if there was a single excuse Cheryl could appeal to as a justification for forgetting about the Topaz family, was she didn't have a family for herself in mind except for that she was about to create from scratch. Because the Blossoms, apart from those who had passed away and not counting her father , didn't deserve to be at her wedding, nor to stay in her life. For Cheryl, that attempt at incestuousness between half-brothers had ended long ago.

Only the Coopers, not counting Betty's father, were welcome. As much as Toni insisted on contacting her other cousins and relatives, whom she knew only by sight when she went to Mr. Blossom's testament reading; Cheryl refused completly. She didn't want to let the bawd of a mother and the bastard of an uncle she had, along with other Blossoms, ruin her wedding day.

But Toni's family? The Topaz were nice, understanding. May not the best example of good parents but decent enough not to have despised her daughter for her sexuality... or anything else. She met them on that trip they made to California, that beautiful summer that she would repeat without thinking twice.

Though it was as if her soon-to-be-wife had read her mind. "I was thinking..." The way of starting that sentence was never a good sign, so Cheryl couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I know you wanted us to go to Paris on our Honeymoon, but..."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I would like part of our Honeymoon to be in California." Her fingers did not hesitate to place a coppery lock behind her warm ear, thus having a better image of her immaculate face. "I want to relive that summer, Cheryl, I want to make you feel like the first time you knew you were in love with me."

"We don't need to go that far."

"What do you mean?"

"Take me to Pop's."

Toni couldn't help a smirk, now dangerously approaching her fiancée, just to lean hier forehead against the opposite and let her nose give her a tender Eskimo kiss, with a gentle sway of her head and a light touch of their skin. "Do you want me to call you sensational again?"

"I want you to remind me I'm not the loveless monster my hedious mother made me think I was."

 

 

-

 

 

It was a special day, a very important one in the life of the youngest of the Blossoms; and yet Cheryl, the only thing she felt at that moment, was melancholy. Sitting on the burdeaux carpet of one of the great rooms of Thistlehouse, the redhead succumbed to the horrible family loneliness she had chosen; or so it seemed. Because even if she didn't want Toni to see her before the wedding because it supposedly would bring bad luck to them, and it wasn't like the shortest one wanted to comply; now the only thing that worried her was that the one person she loved most, couldn't attend to her commitment.

Her fingers stroked her older brother's picture, Jason Blossom's photo. She remembered every day, every hour, every minute and every damn second of the agony she went through during the whole mystery of his murder. And while she had learned to live with that emptiness in her chest that only her beloved JJ could fulfill, on a day like that, it seemed to worsen in her heart, like a black hole that wiped out all the love that Antonnie Topaz had taught her to feel.

She was thankful she hadn't yet put on her wedding dress, which still hung elegantly from a mannequin in the corner of the room. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to erase those thoughts from her head; Toni did not deserve that her family, once again, pretended to ruin what they had built from scratch, and without the help of anyone... except for Veronica from time to time, of course.

One last tear fell on her male twin's photo, and shaking it a little to get rid of her humid sadness, she folded it twice, putting it in her bodice. She left him close to her heart, as if so, deep down, she could still feel the presence of her brother as her god-father, and as the emotional support he always offered.

A smile appeared on her face finally, after picturing herself holding his arm, walking towards the alter. And on the screen of her eyelids, like the happy ending of a beautiful romantic movie, she could visualize everything around her. Both the flowers, and much of the decoration, was a white color. But one neutral, one pure; as pure as the love that represented both. And even when she turned on her heel and Jason was no longer a priority in her eyes, Toni also looks gorgeous with an even more elegant dress than Cheryl could have chosen.

Because instead of letting each other choose their dresses, they let the committee of bridesmaids and best-men decide for them. Because Fangs and Sweet Pea wanted Cheryl to look less delicate, and more like the only person in Riverdale, and in the whole world, that was able to tame the little beast Topaz was. That, in short, was an excuse to force her to wear a tight dress, and therefore, the unnecessary use of her now heavenly bodice.

But Toni's... Toni's was completly different. Betty and Veronica, knowing the impeccable clear taste of the redhead, wanted to give Cheryl something she never forgot. And while both styles were interchanged, no one could say that any of them didn't look beautiful regardless of what dress they wore.

Although if they asked Cheryl, Toni could wear the same clothes she wore when they met, and she would still say yes. Once, twice, and a thousand times more.

But in spite of the fact that this perfect fantasy had brought her obvious joy and the strength she needed to start getting ready, soon the peculiar and characteristic red of the Blossoms made its appearance. Among the crowd she caught the vision of her uninvited mother, the ghost of her father, the curse of her family clouding the most important day of her life.

She opened her eyes wide, waking up from a nightmare to immerse herself in another, feeling the pretentious Penelope Blossom's jingle rumble in her ear. She rolled her eyes, before finally being able to turn around, and meet her mother's screeching gaze.

She knew going back to Riverdale had been a bad idea. "The fuck do you want, mother?"

Without anyone inviting her to do so, she took a seat on the couch. Crossing her legs, she let the slowness of her gestures unnerved Cheryl. "What do I want?" She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "My daughter comes back and I have to find out by others, so they can tell me later that you're going to get married, and that it has not even crossed your mind to invite your mother."

"Playing dumb never suited you." She stood up, facing her. "I don't know what makes you think that at some point, however negligible and impossible it was, I'd like to see you at my wedding."

Seeing the proximity, she didn't hesitate to stand up; as if the figure of her daughter was not one to be feared. "I gave birth to you, bratty ungrateful girl. Then you preferred to stay with your dementious grandmother, the same one who suggested to your father and me we should drowned you and your brother in the Sweetwater River. Now that you're goint to take the name of any idiot you've fool to marry you, what a minimum it'd be to allow me to see how you end our legacy. "

"Legacy? The same one you sold to Hiram Lodge? Don't make me laugh." She turned on her heels, unable to look at her for more than a minute, before her rage from so many years of abuse and mistreating began to accumulate on the white of her knuckles, slipping through the tension of her fists. "And for your information, I would carry with much more pride the Topaz name, than the family name that you left me as my only inheritance."

And even if Cheryl couldn't see her mother, she would make sure that from now on she could see the judging look perched on her fiery pupils. She took her chin and turned her face, forcing her to look into her eyes. "And who will take you to the alter? Who will do it if it is not your uncle Claudius?"

Cheryl swatted at her, getting rid of her rough grip. She rubbed her jaw, still with that anger pressing on her temple, and on her furrowed brow. "Do you want me to get Hall Cooper out of jail? He seemed to be a good substitute for daddy before his ugly twin brother showed up again. Perhaps that way you both can ruin the only day I refused to give you the protagonism you so desperately need."

A sadistic smile spread across the thin line of her lips, curving it petulantly, cynically; even disturbingly. Cheryl stepped back, letting her mother gradually gain ground. "How can you say that, Cheryl? It has always been about you. About how you disgrace our family name and how you don't care about anything that doesn't involve any of your childish deviant whims." 

"You're wrong about that." She snapped back, almost cracking her voice in clear offense. "Toni is not a whim, she's the person I love."

"I can't believe you call this, love." SShe approached the wedding dress, taking the veil and giving it a glance full of disdain. Then she dropped it disgustingly right in the couch she was sitting on. "I cannot believe you want to live a dishonorable life with the first person interested in you, even if it's just a little bit. Until Jason's death, I don't recall you showing any interest in southside trash. Without him, you're just a girl who looks in anybody for the love she had for her brother. "

"I hope you're not implying what I think you are." Outraged, her expression changed completely. While Cheryl's love for Jason was unwavering and sincere, it was never like most people thought. And she wouldn't let her mother keep staining his memory even after his tragic death. "Let Jay-jay rest in peace, mother. He doesn't have anything to do with this unjustified hatred you feel towards my persona. You can ruin my wedding day, but not his memory."

"I haven't even started." She cornered her against the couch next to the one she was sitting on, making her crash into the furniture and fall into it, overcoming her tall figure and showing that superiority Cheryl couldn't stand in her superb expression. "You are the one to blame, Cheryl. You did ruin him, and your father, and definately me. Day after day, the only thing you do is disappointing your family."

She fervently shook her head. "No, I don't. I know Jason is proud of me."

"Is he?" She took her chin again, forcing her to look up, knowing she had hit where it hurt most. "Would Jason support this wedding? Would your brother agree to you marrying a serpent?"

She swallowed heavily; she couldn't say yes with total confidence, since her sexuality was never a topic that was talked through, no matter how close they were. She was taught as a child to hide it, to suppress it in such a way that not even the person who knew the most secrets about Cheryl, really knew what her sister was going through.

Her silence was considered a victory.

One in which Penelope gloated. "Even you yourself have doubts, if what you're doing is right or not. And I appeal to your common sense, Cheryl; you're a Blossom, and you'll never stop being one as much as you get married, or change your last name."

Those words hit her hard. Not because she cared what her mother had to say about the person she had decided to love, or that she now doubted about the blessings of her late brother; but because she was right in something. Cheryl was a Blossom, and the curse of her family ran through her veins like poison that would kill her little by little, and all the people she loved.

Was she really willing to do that to Toni?

Of course not. Staying by her side would only cause her more misfortunes that neither would be able to endure. Being with Cheryl was living a constant drama to which the redhead didn't want to drag her.

Tears welled up on the edge of her eyelids, as if her emotional state had made her more vulnerable to empty comments formed just to hurt. 

Nonetheless, that feeling of being unloveable came back to her. Not because no one could understand her, or love her for what she was, but for what being by her side entailed. If the only person she ever loved ended up dying under the hands of her very own father, what would prevent her mother from trying to harm her fiancee?

A rumble, nevertheless, was the one that woke her from her spiral of decadence, an infinite nightmare in which her insecurities materialized in the form of monsters that destroyed her inside. A girl much shorter than her, wrapped in a beautiful wedding dress, which was almost dragged despite picking up much of this in her hands; entered the room.

"Cheryl—" She stopped once Penelope Blossom's pressence became clear before her eyes. Then, anger began to take over every nook and cranny of her tiny body."What is she doing here? Did you invite her?"

"Do I really need an invitation to my daughter's wedding?"

Toni opened her mouth wide, incredulous, surprised and even madly offended. "Of course you mother fucking do." Her gaze quickly turned to her fiancee, who still wasn't dressed less ready. And no matter how much Cheryl tried to hide her obvious sadness behind her caramelized strands, Toni could see through her."What did you say to her? Why on Earth would you ruin your daughter's wedding day?"

"It's you who's ruinning her." She finally looked at her, as if her presence had not affected her in the least. As if that conversation was not important to her. "Since you came by, the only thing you've done is turning my child into a weak piece of southside garbage. You have deceived her with your lies and with your saphic fantasies. But it doesn't matter how much you try, you'll never be able to call this love, because it is not."

Toni walk through her, showing her that her words had the same power as her thoughts; none at all. She approached her fiancee, wipping her tears with her thumbs.

Although only one desire materialized in the form of a whisper, one that broke in the throat of the redhead. "Just ask her to leave."

"Ask? Oh honey, I won't ask a thing."

"Rude, as you all serpents are."

Finally Toni addressed her, as if she was tired of never being given the well-deserved break that Cheryl deserved. "How ironic that I'm the rude one here, when the only thing you've done since I've known you, is to tear your daughter down and treat her like shit."

"Toni, you don't really have to—"

She stopped a hand in the air, cancelling a request she wasn't going to fulfill. "No, Cheryl, I'm tired." And even though her fiancee was holding her hand tightly, she felt the shortest move away from her just to confrot her mother. "I'm tired of people like your mother making you feel like you're not worthy. I shouldn't have to remind you every day how wonderful you are, and not because I don't want to, because I love showing you how much I love you; but because you should already know. You're lovely, and nobody should make you think otherwise."

"Are you both done here?"

"No, you're done and you won't talk until I tell you so." She picked up her dress again, taking small steps that would leave her right in front of the culprit of all her ills. "It's amazing how selfish you are, that you don't even let your own daughter to be happy. But you know what? I get it. You're full of bitterness and envy because she had the balls to get out of all the crap this family is into."

"Envious of what?" She rolled her eyes, as she crossed her arms.

Though Toni, as she said, wasn't finished yet. "Envious of how happy Cheryl is with the person she wants to be with. We all know your story, how they adopted you from the same convent you put your daughter for gay conversion, and then force you to marry your step-brother, and I'm so sorry that you feel miserable about it, that your childhood was a pure hell, and that you haven't been able to feel true love since then; but that doesn't give you the right to pay your frustrations on your daughter."

The other at last, bothered, as if the opposite had brought up a subject that had long since left buried. But the clear tension in her jaw prevented her from saying anything to defend herself.

Topaz continued. "Cheryl also had a horrible childhood, much of it because of you. She also lost the right to love whoever she wanted only because you decided to take that away from her for many years. Nonetheless, she chose to be the person she is now. Cheryl decided to be the nice and lovely girl I've fallen in love with, and that's something I won't let you take away from us."

The affected one finally got up, clinging to her fiancee, hugging her sideways, trying to be as careful as possible not to spoil her precious white dress, one that made a beautiful contrast with her golden skin. Toni, without hesitation, took her hand.

Her monologue, however, wasn't over yet. "Everybody goes through bad stuff, but it's up to you deciding if you want to let that hatred define you, or if you rather be the better person. And I'm sorry you didn't make the right choice here, but it's too late to expect you to be a decent human being, so if you can act like one, you really have— you really must leave."

"It's not like I want to watch my daughter throwing away her future."

Toni grinned, before pointing to the door. "It's not like you deserve watching your daughter throwing away her future either. So could you be nice for once, and leave when you're asked to? And close the door, I have to help my fiancee getting dressed for the worst day of her life."

"Cheryl, you'll regret this."

A subtle yet adorable soft smile stretched slightly her red lipstick. "The only thing I regret, is not standing up before I let you make me think I didn't deserve to be as much loved as I feel when I'm with Toni."


End file.
